


2 (I Was Playing You)

by intaeresting



Category: Bob's Burgers (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dance, Alternate Universe - High School, Dialogue Heavy, Dirty Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Gene is the main side character in this fic, He's an OG, Jimmy Jr blew it, Jimmy Jr. and Tina are short lived, Mostly G Fic, Only made it T because there's some implied sexual tension later on, POV switch, She doesn't mean to be tho, Short Chapters, That's an inspiration for the fic, This is a Tina x Zeke fic, Told through Tina's POV then Zeke's, We don't stan JJ in this house, Zina - Freeform, ngl Tina is a bit manipulative, not really tho, zena - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29727948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intaeresting/pseuds/intaeresting
Summary: Tina's comfortable with her high school life.  She's the president of the newspaper club and an avid writer.  Her comfort is compromised when Jimmy Jr. reintroduces himself in her life and proposes a partnership.  Will romance between them bloom as she hoped, or will somebody else sweep her off her feet?
Relationships: Tina Belcher/Jimmy Pesto Jr., Tina Belcher/Zeke (Bob's Burgers)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 11





	2 (I Was Playing You)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Thanks for clicking on my fic! I know that I said I was going to take a break from writing, but Zina really pulls me back in. This idea popped in my head while I was listening to this banger (which I named the fic after): (https://youtu.be/WtCREZoiSQQ). Please check out H.E.R (hehe get it?) work!

Tina knew what she was good at. 

She was a writer, nothing more. There were opportunities that she could’ve taken to discover other talents, but she rejected them. She was comfortable in what she was good at, and experimenting was not appealing to her. 

_But if she was so comfortable with being a writer, why did she say yes to him?_

Maybe it was because the person who asked her to be his dance partner was Jimmy Jr. He hasn’t bothered talking to Tina since they entered high school, but here he was, suddenly at her locker, asking her to compete as his partner in a dance competition. He was droning on about the prize money, but Tina heard none of it. She only focused that he was at her locker, asking her to dance with him. It felt like a scene straight out of a rom-com. Her dormant crush on Jimmy Jr. sprung back to life. She agreed too quickly before Jimmy Jr. could tell her the conditions of being a dancer. Jimmy Jr. knew how naive he made her. 

_That’s why she said yes._

She soon regretted skipping her creative writing classes for dance practice, but she still did it. Tina and Jimmy Jr. have only been alone together a handful of times throughout their relationship, and now they have an entire studio to themselves. At first, Tina thought that she was dreaming. She was going to dance near Jimmy Jr. for two hours every day. She and him had never been alone together for that long. There would be plenty of room for romance to blossom between them again, right? 

Tina found out how much of a nightmare that dancing turned out to be. She should have known that Jimmy Jr. took his dancing seriously. She should have known that she was a writer, not a dancer. She should have known to not venture out of her comfort zones, it wasn't worth it. 

They didn’t dance together like she thought they would. Jimmy Jr. made her memorize her choreography in front of the mirrored wall and would yell at her whenever she stumbled. She knew that it wasn't romantic but she tried to think of the romantic potential, rather than feeling bothered about his outbursts. _He was passionate_ , she would tell herself, _he had the right to be upset at her slowness_. They would spend the first week only doing mirror practice and it drove Tina crazy. She wanted her body to be against Jimmy Jr.’s and she wanted him to hold her. She asked him when they would be dancing together and he would have the same response each time: _when she knew her choreography._

That damned choreo consumed her. She found herself practicing her steps whenever she had free time. She would go over the step patterns in her head in class instead of her work. She subconsciously started to even walk in the step pattern. Everything had to be perfect so she could finally get the chance to _really_ dance with Jimmy Jr. Once she understood how to do her choreo, they could dance together like the movie Dirty Dancing. Tina dreamed to recreate that movie with Jimmy Jr. one day, and now is her moment. When they win that competition, Jimmy Jr. would finally realize his feelings for her and he’d ask her to be his girlfriend again. _It’s a full-proof plan._

It was a full-proof plan until she started it. Tina replicated Jimmy Jr’s steps without mistakes. He agreed that they could move on to practice as a duo, which thrilled Tina. This was going to be their moment of chemistry building. She was going to make sure that Jimmy Jr. could feel her against him. 

The music started and it swelled in their ears. Tina took this opportunity to move closer into Jimmy Jr’s chest and found a nice spot on his shoulder to rest her wrists. He moved first, stepping forward into Tina’s space. Tina felt her breath hitch in her throat, focusing on his lips. She forgot to move, and Jimmy Jr. stepped on her shoes. She heard him curse as he stepped back. He scolded her as usual, but Tina didn’t care. His lips were so close to hers. She felt nothing but sparks, even if he was screaming at her. _They were making progress to becoming a couple again, she could feel it._ She could also feel rational Tina reprimand crush Tina's thoughts in the back of her head. Tina promised herself that she would not be walked over by Jimmy Jr. again, but here she was, letting him yell at her. She pushed her common sense out of her mind, preferring her fantasies involving Jimmy Jr. Crush Tina always won over rational Tina.

Dance practice continued and she was gradually getting better at dancing with Jimmy Jr. Sometimes her steps were a shot in the dark and she stepped over his shoes, but she quickly regained her focus and recovered her steps. A small part of her dared to think she was starting to become good at dancing and had a chance to become as good as a dancer as she was a writer. If she wanted to become a good dancer, however, she knew that Jimmy Jr. was going to be a barrier to that goal. First off, he was distracting to her. His good looks put her in a trance, and his labored breathing was the main reason she tripped against him. He also wasn’t that great of a dancer. Tina was surprised when she started to recognize Jimmy Jr.’s mistakes. He messed up his choreo more than she did, but he blamed her for messing up. It made her upset at first, but in the end, she couldn’t blame him for getting mad at her. He was passionate about dancing like she was passionate about writing. He was in the moment and reacted through his emotions. She related to that, so she dismissed his behavior. _She was supposed to be the student._ _Teaching the teacher would make them upset. This was Jimmy Jr.'s dream, not hers._

Things between her and Jimmy Jr. were going well, or so she thought. On their one-month danceversary, she walked into the studio to see Jimmy Jr. with another girl. Tina couldn’t ask about the other girl, he spoke over her when she tried. _Jimmy Jr. let her go without warning._ This wasn’t the first time he’s done this, but this time it was different. It hurt, badly, more than it ever had before. Tina thought that their dance practices meant something, she thought that she was doing well. She skipped her creative writing classes to dance with him. She gave up her writing for him. He didn’t even spare her a glance as she left. Tina didn’t expect him to do so. That’s just how Jimmy Jr. is. 

But what is she going to do now? She isn’t Jimmy Jr.’s dance partner anymore. He’s going to spend the rest of the month training the other girl, and they are going to enter together. What was her purpose in all of this? Her destiny couldn't be the throwaway girl. Tina was so much better than that. 

The flats she was wearing made soft taps against the tiled floor as she walked to her locker. She refused to let the thoughts of rejection and failure process in her mind. She was going to change out of her dancing clothes, and turn back into regular Tina Belcher who was president of the newspaper club. She was going to return to her normal life, and make something of herself. She was going to show Jimmy Jr. that he didn't affect her. All she could do now was erase the month she spent dancing. She had to erase how dancing made her feel. She wasn’t that type of girl, that was Jimmy Jr.’s thing. She should be okay with that, right? Right. 

She noticed a figure standing by her locker. Tina couldn’t see who it was, even when she squinted. She had to take her glasses off and put them in her locker so she wouldn’t risk damaging them while dancing. When she needed them, she didn’t have them. It was a typical Tina moment. Tina could only walk forward, wondering who could be waiting at her locker. It couldn't be Gene, he had theater practice as his last period. Tammy wouldn't be seen with her at school in a million years, and Jocelyn followed Tammy around. Susmita had biology with Henry. Louise had detention, the faculty was watching her like a hawk...

The form started to take shape; the person’s features becoming more recognizable. 

_Bulky build, brown hair, hazel eyes, cargo shorts..._

“Hey, T-Bird! Just the girl I was waitin’ to see.” He said while he waved at her. 

_He_ was the last person she thought she would see. It was like he almost **knew** about Jimmy Jr.’s plans since he was expecting her. She and him barely talked, he had no reason to be waiting around for her. Didn't he have wrestling or something else to do? 

A sense of anger blared in her head like alarm bells. She stopped in front of the boy, staring directly into his eyes. 

_“Zeke.”_


End file.
